Linked
by humorousandparanoid
Summary: Lucy and Wendy go out on a seemingly simple job, but there's more to it. Lucy gets fatally injured, Wendy has to cast a spell she's never used or practised. And where exactly does Laxus and the Raijinshuu fit into this?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"Hey, Natsu, my rent is due in a week and I'm still low on money. Do you want to go on a job together?" Natsu had a bit of fire hanging out of his mouth when he turned to look at me.

"Hey, Luce. I was going to get a job with Lisanna. Hold on, I'll ask if you can join."

"You two haven't gone on any jobs together since she got back, right? We had the S-class exams, then the GMG, so you two go ahead."

"Are you sure?" I nodded. "Well, okay then."

_Gray's already gone on a job with Erza, too. I guess I might have to go solo this time. Okay, time to look at job requests that I can do. _I walked to the request board. I scanned through the papers, quickly determining the jobs I can't, can and might be able to do. _Let's see, I need another 20 000 jewels, so I need one that's paying at least close to that. Monster hunting, can't do by myself yet... Find 20 missing animals, for only 15 000 jewels, no way... This one sounds easy, and is a 10 000 jewel reward, its far though, so I won't have time to come back and go on another job... Rogue mage, 60 000 jewels, he can't be that strong if that's all they're offering for him... Well, just in case, if I got someone else to go with me, then split the reward 50/50, that's 30 000 for the both of us, I have enough to cover my rent and a bit extra._

"Um, excuse me, Lucy?" A timid voice broke through my thoughts.

"Hm?" I turned to look at the speaker.

"Wendy! You're perfect."

Shocked at my sudden outburst, she only managed a "F-f-for w-what?"

"Do you want to come on a job with me? I'll split the reward evenly, I promise." I was still a little on the loud side, but Wendy seemed calmer.

"That's actually what I was coming over here for. Natsu said that you needed to go on a job, so I was going to offer to accompany you."

"Then what about this one?" I asked handing her the request. "Requests about rogue mages usually have a reward between 100 000 and 150 000 jewels, depending on their strength of course, before they become S-class jobs. This one can't be all that powerful, between the two of us we can do it pretty easily."

"I think you could probably do this by yourself, you're thinking you aren't as strong as you really are again."

"Well, maybe you're right, but it's better thinking I'm weaker, rather than stronger, I'd end up taking on jobs I can't handle. Then who knows what would happen. Besides I was thinking about doing it myself, but then I thought 'just in case'. So do you want to?"

"I can't argue with your logic, so ya I'll go."

"Great!" I started towards the bar, "Mira! Wendy and I are going to take this job, okay? We should be back in a few days."

"Alright." Mira looked at the request.

"Wait, both of you are taking this one?" I heard Mira say, but we were already walking out the doors.

*Staying with the guild.*

"Why do you look so confused, Mirajane?" Mira looked over to the previously empty seat to see Master Makarov and Laxus, along with the Raijinshuu.

"I just don't get why they both took this job. It would be easy for either one of them. Both of them can easily qualify for the S-class exams this year."

Though instead of an answer from Makarov, like expected, an answer came from Freid, "I heard them talking. It seems Lucy still doesn't think she's all that strong."

"Whatever, I wanna get goin'. Mira we're leaving." Laxus stated before showing her what job they took.

**Well, this is the first chapter of my first multi-chapter story. I'll try to have a chapter up every two weeks, if not every three. Sorry to say, but this is probably going to be the average length of a chapter. So tell me what you thought, and I should have the next chapter up in two weeks.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

*Back with Lucy*

We left the guild right around three hours ago to pack, and got on the train two hours ago. Since then we've just been talking about really anything. That was when Wendy asked the strangest of questions.

"Is it true that you have a crush on Natsu?"

I just stared, waiting for her to laugh, or say she was joking, or just something. After a bit, I exploded in laughter.

"Me *breathe* and Natsu? *snort* No way!" My laughter continued for quite a while.

"He's a friend, brother, cousin, anything but a boyfriend." I said through barely controlled giggles.

"Well, it's just everyone seems to think that you two have a thing for eachother. I mean, even Lisanna seems to think he likes you..."

"Really? Lisanna?"

"Ya, the only people who don't are Laxus and his friends, but I think as long as you don't end up with Elfman, or any of the girls, they don't really care either way."

"Hold on, you, my sweet little Wendy, talk to the scowly-faced Laxus. But not just him, the Raijinshuu." I exclaimed, completely shocked that she had the courage to go up to them and say hi, let alone hold a conversation. "And I don't go for girls." I mumbled as an afterthought.

"Well, um, I wanted to talk to him on Tenrou, and I was extremely nervous, until Erza came up behind me and told me that he was a nice guy, just awkward around people. I finally spoke to him on the boat ride home, when everyone else wasn't crowding around him. Since then I've been able to go up to him, and talk about little things." Wendy was blushing at the beginning and smiling at the end of her explanation, so it was easy to tell she was fond of Laxus, and was very proud of herself.

"That's really awesome that you can, Wendy. To be honest, I'm still a little nervous around them. But, if you just talk about little things, how did mine and Natsu's relationship become a topic? I mean, Laxus doesn't seem to be one to gossip."

"Oh, he's not, but Evergreen most definitely is. I was talking to her and asked the others' opinions."

"You and Evergreen talk about... Relationships?"

"Yup! She has an interest in yours." Wendy bounced a little and clapped her hands together as she said this.

"I feel a little scared by that."

"It's nothing to worry about. I think it's mainly because you don't really show an interest in any of the guys in the guild, so she tends to make up what kind of guy she thinks you would fall for, with my input every once in a while."

"Do you, now? So, what kind of guy am I going to fall for? According to you two, anyway."

"Well, we both thought that he would have to be above regular standards. Handsome, but not so much that you have to fight for his attention. Clean, strong, protective, loving, sort of like a prince from a fairy tale, and extremely gentlemanly. That last part Laxus disagreed with."

"Really? Why?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.

"He said that you ran away from your life as, basically, a princess because you were sick of it, so why would you want a guy who would remind you so much of it. He also mumbled that you wouldn't be friends with Gray and Natsu either if that was the kind of guy you wanted, but I don't think we were supposed to hear that."

"Wow. I didn't think he knew that. And, I have to agree with him. Especially the part about Gray and Natsu." I honestly didn't think Laxus knew or cared about my history, especially since all of that was told to the guild when he was always absent, and a bit of a power obsessed jerk.

**One hour to Dracholt City. **A voice spoke throughout the train.

"I guess we better set a plan for once we get to the city."

"Lucy, don't you find it odd that a rogue mage would be here?" Wendy looked... concerned, maybe.

"Not really, should I?"

"Well this place, though it may be called a city, not many people actually live here. It's more of a tourist resort. Not exactly a typical place for hiding out."

"Ahh, you see, Wendy, that is where you're wrong." I started, going into teacher mode, "Because there is less than 2 000 people living here, it isn't likely that the mage would be seen more than once by a citizen, and because of the amount of people coming in and out of the city each day, the citizens probably wouldn't recognize him even if he were standing only two feet away, so really it's the perfect place." I explained.

"I see, I didn't think of it that way." She said bashfully, almost like a student getting an answer wrong on a test.

"All of that only makes our job harder, for the same reasons the citizens wouldn't recognize him too easily. That right there doesn't help either. We won't be able to get accurate descriptions from the citizens, unless we interviewed every citizen and took the most common attributes and made them into one person, but that would take up too much time and get us confused. We'd wind up suspecting everyone."

"Of course hiding here could backfire. If he stays too long, he would stand out more to the citizens that see him more often. If that were to happen, then we could figure out his hotel, his room number, where he likes to hang out, heck, even his favorite meal at his favorite restaurant." Once I finished my long speech, Wendy looked quite impressed.

"You know, Lucy, with that brain you could easily make it to S-class."

"If it were only about brains, I would've been promoted to S-class the second I got to the guild. But, sadly, it's not. So, back to the planning. Once we get to town, we have to go see the mayor, get whatever details we can from him, and depending on when the mage does whatever it is he does, we'll either check into a hotel and go to bed, or go out and search. It's getting late, so we may not find much."

"But, Lucy, its a huge city, how are we going to find him?" I brought my finger to my chin as I thought.

"Well, how good are your dragon senses?" Wendy looked confused but answered anyways.

"My hearing isn't like Natsu's or the others, but it's above dog level. My eyesight, as far as I know, is perfect during the day and I've never really looked around at night for anything so I don't really know, and my sense of smell is pretty up there, too."

"Do mages smell different from regular people?" She still looked confused, she took a few quick sniffs, and I could practically see the wheels turning in her head as she slowly figured out what I was getting at.

"Yes, there is! Now that I focus on it, I don't know how I didn't notice before. It's almost like the mages have an extra spice or something!"

"Can you smell a difference in the types of magic?" Another few sniffs.

"Sorry, I can't tell. It may just be that there aren't many mages on the train and I don't know their magic so I don't know what I'm looking for."

"It's okay, Wendy. You've already found an easier way to search for him." She beamed at me. This trip might help her confidence.

"Thank you. I never would have thought of that on my own."

"So, as we're walking to the mayor's, do you think you can sniff out how many mages there are compared to the regular people?"

"I can try."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

*Time-Skip*Mayor's house*

It took about a half hour to get to the mayor's house from the train station. It was right in the center of the city, raised on a platform for all to see. Once Wendy and I got to the mayor's house, we were immediately taken to a study to wait for him. We decided that I would talk since Wendy is always shy around new people, especially those of importance. We waited in silence for just under ten minutes. The mayor was a short man. Not really handsome, but not unattractive either, dirty blonde hair that was swept back with piercing grey eyes.

"Good evening. I apologize to have kept you waiting. My name is Frederick Wagoner."

"Hello, my name is Lucy, and this is Wendy. We came because of your request about the rogue mage causing trouble." I said, gesturing to both myself and Wendy.

"Yes, thank you for coming." He said with a quick nod.

"We're going to need as much information as you can provide."

"I must say, we don't know very much. Nobody has gotten a good look at him. He is normally in the shadows, and is only ever seen just before dawn. After that he disappears."

"And how many times has this happened?" I took a quick glance at Wendy to notice her getting uneasy, and her nose was twitching as well.

"Four times. That we know of anyways."

"Do you know what type of magic he uses?"

"I'm not sure, but I believe it is either air magic or shadow magic, since nobody can see it."

"I see. Wendy, how many mages did you notice were here in the city?"

"U-um, I believe about one in every 200 people. But I can only tell so far out and I may have been just smelling a few mages that just kept getting within range."

"Wendy, calm yourself. You did great. Mr. Wagoner, I'm going to need pictures of all the mages who are citizens here, along with what their magic is. And a map with all the sightings of the mage marked on it."

"Of course, I will get them to you as soon as they are ready."

"Thank you. I think we should take our leave now." I said, standing up to leave with Wendy taking a few moments to stand as well. "We can find our way out. You should attend to your other guests."

"What makes you think that I have other guests?" He looked quite surprised. I doubt he even knows they're here yet. Wendy, too, looked surprised.

"Not long after you came into the room, Wendy's nose started to twitch, meaning she smelt someone approaching. I don't blame you for not knowing they were here. Nothing beats a dragon's nose." I quickly walked out of the room, something about him bugged me, and I didn't want to stay a second longer than needed. Wendy was right behind me.

Once we were out the front door, I slowed my pace, I heard Wendy let out a sigh of relief.

"Wendy?"

"Yes?"

"Did something about him seem, I don't know... off to you?"

"Not really." I just nodded my response.

"You know, Lucy, you really are quite amazing. It's like your brain is always coming up with new plans, adjusting for every new thing that you learn. Not only that, you are observant."

"Oh, jeez, Wendy, you're flattering me."

"You mentioned the other guests just to see how he would react, didn't you? You wanted to know if there was something he was hiding. You also wanted him to know that you were the one in control, not him."

"You're right about that! Nothing ticks me off more than some guy acting like he's better than us. I mean, just because he hired us doesn't mean he can look at us like we're nothing important. I wanted him to know that, if we wanted to, we could just leave him to deal with the problem. But, there was another reason. If we knew something going on in his own house that he didn't, he would have more confidence in our abilities and get us what we need faster."

"See? New plans because you noticed something as simple as the twitching of my nose. You could be on the level of Erza, in terms of plans."

"Oh, before I forget, you looked nervous once you smelt the other people. Any reason why?"

"Well, it could be nothing, but there were four people going to his house."

"What's so bad about that?"

"Nothing, except they were all mages. And I went over the request board back at the guild while you were talking to Mira. There were no other requests for this city."

"I see. Now I understand why you were nervous. Do you still remember their scents?"

"Ya, they seemed familiar, so they were pretty easy to memorize."

"Good. Then we'll sleep tonight, wake an hour before dawn, look for the rogue mage, then we'll search for those scents tomorrow during the day. We'll also continue looking for the rogue mage at the same time. I know that this mage scent thing is still really new to you, like, today new, but do you think you'll be able to do all that?"

"If we find the rogue mage before dawn, and I can get his scent, then probably, but if we don't then then I'm not so sure."

"If we find him before dawn then I hope we won't need to search for him after that."

"I guess that's true." She said giggling and blushing with her hand behind her head. I swear it was the cutest sight I had ever seen.

"Now, let's go eat. We should also pick up something to go for breakfast tomorrow." I wasn't hungry a few minutes ago. I mean, I ate on the train. I sighed. I think Natsu's starting to rub off on me. And judging by the look on Wendy's face, she's thinking the same thing.

We went to a small restaurant near our hotel. Dinner went by calmly, nothing really exciting, it was much the same as the train, only this time I got to tease Wendy about being the Juliette to a certain Romeo. Though, I guess that isn't exactly right. They aren't from rival families, and Romeo's and Juliette's love only lasted a few days before they both killed themselves. Oh well. It worked at the time.

After dinner we went to a bakery and got some muffins and croissants for breakfast in the morning. After we got what we needed, we went to the hotel, got a room, took a bath and went to bed.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Now, the sun is going to rise in about an hour and a half. If I had any Idea that Wendy was as impossible to wake up as Natsu then I would have asked Charle how she wakes her up in the mornings. I've tried screaming in her ear, plugging her nose, tugging her cheeks, shaking her, telling her that the breakfast was ready, tickling her, everything but a bucket of water. Deciding that was the only way, I picked her up, set her in the bathtub, turned on the shower to ice cold, and sprayed her. Let's just say she has an extremely high pitched squeal. I swear I might have gone deaf in one ear.

"Sorry, sweetie, but you wouldn't wake up. I had no choice." I started, handing her a towel, "We've got fifteen minutes before we leave. The mayor sent the maps while we were asleep, I've already looked at them. Seems the mage has been staying in one area of the city, so we'll start there."

"O-k-k-k-k-ay-y-y." Didn't think the water was that cold. Next time I'll go for the hot water.

"I'll go get your bag, okay? Just wait right there." I could have sworn I heard her mumble something along the lines of 'Ya, 'cause I can go so many places.'

*Time Skip*North Dracholt City*

The North of the city was completely abandoned. It was full of buildings that were probably beautiful at one time, but now were just crumbling down, the pillars of one such building fallen across the ground. The darkness of night only making the place all the more creepy.

"Are you sure this is where he's been showing himself?" Wendy said walking a little closer to me.

"I get what you mean. But this is where the maps said." I was being cautious through here, I'm responsible for not only myself, but Wendy's safety as well.

"There isn't anything here though. Grandine told me about this city a few times, and everytime she did she said that the northern part of the city has been abandoned for years, mostly because of small earthquakes making the area uninhabitable, but also because of something in the earth that can warp a person's magical abilities."

"Why would your dragon tell you about a regular old city?"

"You don't know why this city is so famous? Why so many tourists come here?" She looked at me completely astonished.

"No, I'd never heard of this city before yesterday, so I only got basic information on it."

"I suppose that makes sense. The 'Drac' in 'Dracholt' comes from the constellation Draco, which I'm sure you know about."

"Of course. It's the dragon constellation, which was supposed to be tied to a different kind of Key for Celestial mages like me. One rarer than the Zodiac Keys. But that's just a myth."

"Well, before the war that Zirconis told us about, the city actually used to be a place where dragons gathered. Every fifty years the dragons would gather and stayed for a few months and humans worshipped dragons during this time period, so there was always festivals and other celebrations whenever the dragons were here. It was like this for many millennia.

But then, there were some dragons that let the power go to their heads and they made the humans their slaves. The other dragons taught the humans dragonslayer magic to fight back. Unfortunately, the humans became selfish and turned on their saviors," Wendy looked like she was going to begin crying any second, but refused to let the tears fall.

"The humans became selfish and never let the dragons come back. If a dragon ever came back the slayers would attack it until it either flew away or was dead. It didn't matter if the dragon was only a baby, adult or elder." I heard a sniffle and saw the tears going down Wendy's face, finally broken free of their prison. I rubbed her arm in what I hoped was a soothing touch.

"It wasn't until many months later that the humans began to notice. The northern area warped their abilities. They could no longer control them and the humans began gaining dragon-like features, more than just our claws, fangs or senses. The humans were gaining tails, snouts, scales. At first, they were overjoyed, they thought it was just their powers advancing, but in fact, it was killing them. Their human bodies could handle the changes, and started to deteriorate.

After a few deaths, the ones who weren't too far into the change left to search for the dragons. They found the dragons and begged them to help, but the dragons, angry at being betrayed and having their families killed, refused. The dragons, however, didn't want the deaths to be their fault gave them one piece of advise. 'Stay out of the north.' The people followed this. Those who hadn't changed much lived for a long time afterwards. It for that reason that the north was abandoned. That is the story, though, most people don't know the entire thing. I don't think even Natsu or Gajeel do." Wendy finished and had stopped crying, though I still had my hand on her arm.

"Maybe this mage is wanting whatever is in the ground that changes peoples magic?"

"That's possible, but wouldn't it affect him, too?"

"Maybe not. If its a device, then maybe that's how the dragons in your story knew to tell the people to stay out of the north. Or it's possible that his magic can control whatever it is so that it doesn't do anything to him."

"But didn't the mayor say that he had either air magic or shadow magic?"

"Well, you and Chelia can use your air magic for healing, and a shadow magic user I once met could use his shadows for shields. Or maybe it's like that guy from the GMG that could nullify magic the magic around him, or Luka from Lamia Scale that created shields that nullified the magic before it hit him, it worked as a good physical barrier as well." I didn't take notice to the fact that Wendy had stopped walking until she called for me in a whisper.

"Wait, Lucy! I smell someone up ahead."

"Do you smell anything else?" She took a few sniffs and gasped.

"The people from yesterday are to the east of us, and I think they're coming this way."

"Shoot. If they're more enemies we're going to be in big trouble. We need to finish this guy fast." Wendy agreed and we both moved as quickly and quietly as we could.

We got to the mage in a few minutes. He seemed to be chanting some sort of spell over a magic circle. I didn't recognize the book he was reading from, either. Soon the circle got an ominous glow to it and so Wendy and I decided to attack. Wanting this done quick, Wendy started off with an air dragon's roar and I caught the guy as he was twirling through the air with my fleuve d'etoiles before he got too far and sent him crashing back to the ground. We heard shouts behind us, so we quickly braced ourselves for another attack. However, once we could see the people, they looked as shocked as I'm sure we did.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"The... Raijinshuu?" I said after a few moments.

"Um... Wendy, why didn't you say it was them?"

"Well, I did say the scents were familiar when I caught them yesterday, but I guess now knowing the difference between mage scents and regular people's made me a little confused about theirs." Wendy explained slowly. It was as if we were thawing out from the shock of seeing eachother.

"Cosplayer, what are you doing here?" Oh, how I hated that nickname, but no matter how many times I tell him not to call me that, he just says it twice as much. Doesn't stop me from trying, though.

"Bixlow, don't call me that. I am not a cosplayer, neither are my spirits. And we were here to catch a rogue mage. What about you guys?"

"We have to find the reason this place affects mages and destroy it." Freid answered, sounding calm and selective to what he says, as always.

"Ya, so if you'd leave, that'd be great."_ Is Laxus seriously that much of a jerk. _I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Ya, you can wait."

"And if I don't want to?"

"Then too bad. Our job is a mage that's already dealt with, your job is something that the people of this city have survived with for hundreds of years, it can wait five minutes!" My voice was stern and clear, but not a yell. Just loud enough for him to know that I am not being swayed in this argument, if you could call it that.

"Dealt with, huh? Then, where is he?"

"What do you mean? He's right on the ground over..." He's gone. I ran over to where I know I threw him. Where I know he landed. All I saw was a bit of blood in the in the magic circle a few feet away. "That can't be good." I whispered.

As if cued by my words the circle began to glow brighter than before. I saw four other lights a short distance from us, beyond ruins of old houses. "Damn, this really can't be good." The circle began to glow brighter until I was completely blinded by them. I could hear Wendy calling my name and what sounded like... banging on glass. The circles must have connected and made a barrier between me and the others. I felt immense pain begin in my fingertips and the soles of my feet, I forced my eyes open to see what I think was my skin being burned and peeled away. The pain became too much and I passed out.

**So, um, ya. Chapter five, yay. Sorry to do this to you all, but I have recently gotten a job, or two, so it keeps me really busy. Don't worry, I am NOT cancelling this fic. BUT updates will be slowed, possibly right down to once every two months, I will try my hardest to update more than that, but, seriously, I've barely written anything the past couple weeks.**

**Anyways, please keep following, send reviews, they will inspire me.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"Dammit! What happened?" _What's going on?_

"I don't know, but we need to get her back to the guild!" _What happened?_

"She won't make it!" _Evergreen?_

"She's bleeding too much!" _Bixlow?_

"Wendy! Can't you do something?" _Is that Laxus?_

"There is one spell that might save her, but its extremely dangerous. And not just for her." _What spell? Wendy? Tell me!_

When I woke up, I knew I was in Fairy Tail's infirmary. It hurt to move. I couldn't open my eyes. I could feel that I was covered in bandages. With me in this condition there's no way Wendy or any of the guild would let me be at home. I also heard someone snoring in another bed. _Probably Natsu. _I tried to talk, but all that came out was a breathy croak. Luckily, there was someone else in the room that I didn't notice.

"So you're awake." I heard it say. I tried but I couldn't place the voice to a face. It was a girl though, and she sounded exhausted. I tried to talk again, and it ended with the same result.

"Stop trying to talk. Wendy's spell barely saved you. I'm going to get Wendy, don't try to move." I heard the door open and shut as whoever it was left.

_What happened to me? Why am I covered in bandages? If I'm like this, what about Wendy and the others? And my keys? Where are they?_ If my keys are gone, then I can't be a mage anymore. I can't be a part of Fairy Tail.

My breathing must have been erratic, because the next thing I knew some one was telling me not to panic. Though, it wasn't Wendy for it was definitely male. I also became aware that the snoring had stopped. It wasn't Natsu.

I heard the door open again. The girl and Wendy must be back.

"Okay, Lucy. Stay very still." I heard a girl say. _My hearing must have been damaged as well. That explains why I can't place voices to names. This must be Wendy, though._ "The spell hasn't taken its full effect yet. Once it does you will be healed in a matter of a couple days. The fact that you're even awake now proves that the spell is working. I would try to help by healing you, but casting the spell took all my power, and I still don't have enough magic back yet to heal even minor cuts, let alone um... you."

_Me? I can feel the bandages, but how bad can I be?_

"M~ K~~s" I said, but even I couldn't hear it.

"M~ K~ys" I tried again. By now they've figured out that I was trying to talk, and were reprimanding me, but were still quiet when I tried again.

"My Keys?" Finally. That one small sentence left me gasping for air.

"Lucy," Wendy started, and sounded like she didn't want to continue. "I'm sorry, but your keys were damaged. Loke has them in the Celestial Realm right now trying to find a way to repair them. He said as they are, you wouldn't be able to summon any of them." She sounded like her heart was breaking as she said these words.

_**Damaged. Not able to summon.**_These words kept ringing through my head. I felt something stinging my cheeks. My throat felt tight, like I was being choked. I felt someone's hand touch my face, so gently that if I wasn't injured I doubt I would have felt it at all.

"Don't worry, Lucy. That spirit loves you. All your spirits do. There's no way that they're just sitting up there letting those keys stay the way they are. They're probably busting their asses to find a way to fix them, possibly even making new ones entirely for you." I felt more tears come and my mouth twitch upwards at his words.

"We better go. You still need to rest, I'll explain what the spell was when you're able to walk and talk."

"Okay. Just buzz if you need anything."

I heard the door open and close again, and I could also still hear breathing, so someone was still in here. I think it's the guy who was sleeping before. Why? Was he important for Wendy's spell? I wonder why the spell would need to be explained to me, it only heals me, right? Did it do something else, is that why this guy is here?

I soon found myself asleep again and as I was sleeping I dreamt I was in the clouds during a lightning storm and I felt a strange sensation throughout my entire body.

**Well, that last sentence totally ruined it.**

**I know, I know. It's still so short, but I promise next time it will be at least 1200 words. I won't settle for less. I'll even try to have a Laxus and Lucy moment or two. Well, until next time. Keep the inspiration coming. I think I'm going to call you all my muses. Is that weird? Totally weird, right?**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

This time when I woke up, it was dark. I'm not sure how long I slept, but I was in noticeably less pain, and I also didn't feel as many bandages. I tried to sit up and fell back to the bed, I was sore and apparently hadn't recovered my strength yet.

"Ow." Was that my voice? It sounded awful and gravelly.

I tried sitting up again, and this time managed to do so, "Where's the bathroom?" Definitely my voice. Damn, that sucks.

"Infirmary bathroom is on the left, guild bathrooms are downstairs."

I would have screamed if my voice allowed it. My body shouldn't have allowed me to jump though, now I'm on the floor and I hurt like hell.

"Who?" I gasped out from my place on the floor.

"Sorry, guess you didn't see me?" I felt the guy hold my elbow and the lower part of my back. I hissed in pain as he pulled me up to my feet. Once I was on my feet and balanced, he turned me towards the direction of the bathroom.

I wobbled my way, and on the inside I felt for the light. I turned it on and immediately regretted it. The light left an excruciating burning feeling in my eyes. I left it on because I needed to see what I looked like and where I was going. But, first things first, I need to pee.

After I was done going to the washroom I made my way to the mirror, my eyes had almost adjusted so I could open them a bit more now. I took off the gown I was put into. I took a good, long look at myself. I didn't like what I saw. The places where I still had bandages, my neck, elbows, knees and chest, were covered in blood splotches, and everywhere that wasn't was either red, white, or peely. I still had dried blood on myself as well. I looked to my face and it wasn't much better, I noticed something odd though. My eyes, they were... different. The didn't look their usual brown, instead they looked paler, and with bits of orange in them. Wendy's spell, maybe? My hair was a complete other story, it was dirty, bloody, matted, and seemed to be singed.

I sighed and looked around the bathroom in hopes of finding a shower or bathtub. I almost jumped for joy when I saw a shower in the far corner. _Can I shower with bandages on?_ I thought about going and asking the guy if I was able to, but then I thought it would be too strange. I walked over to the shower and turned it on slowly to test if my skin was sensitive to the pressure or heat. I found the perfect temperature after a minute or so of fiddling. The pressure hurt, but not badly enough to change my mind. I stood until the water ran clear, then started scrubbing and ripping at the mats in my hair, unfortunately taking out chunks. Soon my hair was smooth. Another ten minutes in the comfort of the water and I got out.

I look in the mirror and realised how uneven and choppy my hair really is, one part barely reaching my shoulder. I went to reach for my keys to call out Cancer, but then remember what Wendy said. _**As they are, you wouldn't be able to summon them.**_I can't summon Virgo either, I didn't look to see if there was anything for me to change into. All I see is the gown that's covered in my blood and some towels.

"Dammit. This is going to be embarrassing."

I leave the light on as I open the door to the infirmary and I immediately search for the sounds of snoring. I hear nothing and I really hope that means he's gone. I creep out of the bathroom and look around the room for something, anything, to wear.

Nothing.

No coats, no more gowns, absolutely nothing.

"What the hell kind of infirmary is this? I need something not covered in blood to wear."

And recalling the little scaring incident from earlier, I braced myself for an answer. In fact, I kind of hoped for one. But nothing came. Damn.

_Since when do I say 'damn' and 'hell'?_ I paused at the thought, weird. I shrugged and continued looking for some article of clothing.

I sighed and left the infirmary in hopes of something being in the guild.

"What are you doing out of the infirmary... In nothing but a towel?" Came a sudden boom of a voice. The infirmary door closed cutting off all light now.

I squealed, then coughed because of the pain it caused my throat. After the person disappeared then reappeared with a glass of water, and my coughing stopped, I gave him an answer.

"I took a shower and I couldn't find anything to wear so I came out here to search."

"And if you didn't find anything?" He asked.

"I guess I would have to try and call out Loke, but I don't think I can without his key."

"Well hurry up and look, then get back into the infirmary. Wendy'll kill me if she finds out you're out of bed."

"Wendy? Kill? As if!" I laugh, and hate the sound of my voice and the feeling my throat gets.

"She will."

"But, another little flaw."

"What's that?"

"I can't see." I state simply.

I hear a sigh, and see sparks, then see a little glowing pillar in his hand and hear the crackling of lightning. _Lightning? _I look up to see Laxus. I said the only thing I could think of.

"So, Wendy's going to kill you, huh?" I giggled.

"Shut up and go look for clothes." It was at that moment I realised that if I could see, he could see, and I was wearing only a really short towel and looked like death came for a visit. I blushed, turned and sped to the stairs to get away.

I was downstairs rummaging through boxes in all the storage rooms, painfully aware that he was following and standing in the doorway of every room, and after a while I felt like I needed to talk to just take away the awkwardness.

"Why are you here so late anyways, Laxus?" Closing one useless box.

"I had stuff the old man wanted me to do." Opening another.

"Like what?" Moving everything around in the box.

"Paperwork mostly." Decidedly useless and close, yet another, box.

"And making sure I stay in bed by Wendy." Opening another, probably useless, box.

"That too, it was the only way to get her to go home." Move around objects.

"I didn't know anyone was allowed to be here after hours." Useless.

"Only S-class, Wendy, and the old man." Opening a hopefully useful box.

"Oo, lost and found, gross, but I need clothes," I started, mumbling to myself, then spoke up to him, "Why Wendy when she's not S-class or anything?"

"Ya, it's mostly full of Gray's clothes. Wendy is only allowed under special conditions." Gray's shirt, Gray's pants, another of Gray's shirts...

"What conditions would those be?" Gray's jacket, one of Gray's socks, who's hat is this? Gray's shoes.

"Well, since she's the only person with healing magic, there has to be someone in the infirmary. She also can't bring anyone else, and that includes Charle. She also can't be low on magic, there would be no point for her being here if she can't heal anyone." Another of Gray's socks, Gray's shorts, Gray's boxers, ew, just throw those out.

"That makes sense, I guess... Oh, screw it! I'll just wear something of Gray's! He's got an entire wardrobe in here anyways." I hear Laxus laugh. The first time I'd ever heard him laugh. It's a truly wonderful sound, and I would just love to hear it again. I grab Gray's pants, shirt, and jacket. I turn and walked past Laxus, smiling at him as I did so, and made my way back to the infirmary.

**I kept my promise of making it at least 1200 words! Yay! 1300 and a bit! I don't know if any of what's written here counts as LaLu/LaxLu, whatever you want to call it. **

**Hello, my muses. Not weird? It's been a few weeks, but luckily for you I decided to start bringing my laptop to my one workplace, and since it's a desk job, I can work on it when it's quiet. You know, when I'm not totally stuck. Seriously, I was on a major writing kick, so I've started the next chapter, but then I just got stuck. I been staring at it for a while now. **

**Nothing's come to me.**

**Well, anywho, I hope you all enjoyed it. Keep that inspiration coming, that's the job of a muse.**


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